$104.2 Billion, that’s the worth of the creator’s economy. With 50 million independent content creators present in the digital space, the community has the power to mould opinions and create a lasting impact in the minds of those who consume their content. Many people confuse the creator’s economy meaning with influencers, which is true to some extent but is not limited to the same. Besides denoting the influencer community, it also includes the monetization of their work.
Simply put, the creator’s economy refers to the community of digital content creators on social media, presenting/showcasing and getting paid for their work by leveraging cyberspace. In recent years, many reputed brands have switched to influencer marketing by adopting the digital space and the benefits it offers in building a connection with customers.
Why influencer marketing?
While there are several creator’s economy blogs available on the internet, talking about the benefits of influencer marketing, many brand owners refrain from experimenting with the same. Interaction and collaboration are the two very essential components of the second generation of the web aka, Web2.0, which refers to the current nature of the internet. People look up to influencers and their work not just because of their mere popularity, but rather the connection and interaction influencers try to build with them. Being acknowledged is a very basic human need. Influencers acknowledge the target audience and their wants by creating personalized content. And this very aspect of ‘personalization’ is what encourages the audience to follow the influencer’s lifestyle. Personalization creates impact, and impact results in the desired action, which is one of the many benefits of influencer marketing.
How does it help in branding?
Your brand’s value in the market is directly proportional to the ‘impact’ it creates in the minds of prospective customers. As the marketing funnel theory struggles to keep up with the dynamic transitions of the consumer market, building new customer acquisition strategies is imperative for young brands. The rules of branding were never limited to theories. Anything that appeals to the audience to change their ordinary way of consumption, resulting from the creation of a strong connection is what branding aims to do. Personalization leads to influence, influence leads to inclination, which is again, one of the most crucial benefits of influencer marketing.
Nevertheless, as the current commercial market is becoming crowded day by day with the advent of several brands offering more or less the same services/products, ideation might take a step back. The solution to this is not by becoming the ‘favored option, but by forming a personalized link with the target audience that inclines them to choose your product/service over others.
There is no undersupply of brand strategies, but there is definitely a shortfall in the results. Nobody is conveying to your customer that a product/service ‘X’ exists in the market. You need to have a solid strategy in place for the effective dissemination of your message. Collaborating with micro-influencers might not only help you in conveying your message but in bringing in leads as well. They may have a comparatively lower follower base but they have a niche audience that looks up to the ideas of the influencer.
The creator economy’s meaning is quite broad. As it is an industry of independent artists, content creators and community builders including diversified proficient like bloggers, videographers, social media influencers and local artists who, with the help of various sources and financial tools, monetize their work.
It is one of the most lucrative and credible forms of promotion. Social influencers may help you magnify your message across a wide spectrum of audiences in the digital world, where marketers are battling to get their message heard. Impart, influence, impact, a very simple yet effective flow for customer acquisition. Following these 3I’s can help you in implementing your influencer marketing strategy compellingly in the social space.
Impart- Conveying what you are bringing to the table for your audience, is the very first and essential step. Your target audience must know what you are offering. Special emphasis should be laid on the ‘way you disseminate your message’ rather than ‘what you disseminate?’ (Which is actually quite common & unavoidable.) The design of the way you present your idea will directly affect the recall value of your brand. Here, personalization is the key.
Influence- Once people are cognizant of your brand, the focus should be on the construction of a link that connects the audience to your brand. Leverage micro-influencers in building credibility and trust. Once that is done, you are halfway to bringing new leads to your business, perhaps which is the ultimate aim of influencer marketing.
Impact- You have conveyed your message and formed a link with your audience. At this stage, your target customer base is already defined. What is left now is action. This is where you level up the game of branding by employing creativity and trends that can indirectly give your audience a solution to a hypothetical problem. Study the social trends, find the gaps and use them in keeping your audience engaged. Don’t let them get distracted, keep them engrossed.
While influencer marketing is just one of the many strategies that can be used for branding. It is essential to note that there has been a drastic rise of influencers promoting brands at both regional, national and global levels. This signifies the fact that influencer marketing has turned out to be very efficient in branding. Perhaps a micro-influencer in your neighborhood might bring in more leads as compared to employing other expensive tools used for branding. Nevertheless, do your research, understand the market, segregate your diversified audience and then do what works best for your brand.
